Angel Eyes in Bloomington, MN

It's hard to figure out just exactly why
Tamara Walker
is signed to
Curb Records
, a primarily
country
label. Her voice certainly can wield a healthy swagger when she wants it to, but the production on her debut,
Angel Eyes
, is about as far from rural as it gets. There are deep beats, looped grooves, big string pads, power
ballads
, trite lyrics, and vocal acrobatics galore. Sounds pretty much like
pop
, no? Eventually you arrive at some pedal steel and fiddle -- though not until about halfway through the cuts -- and it all begins to make a little more sense. But only for a few tracks. Then you're back to remix central to close the album. Now to be fair,
Walker
has a lovely voice, no doubt about it. And the production isn't bad, necessarily. It's just rather formulaic and pedestrian, as is the songwriting. Indeed,
"Didn't We Love"
is a radio-ready, Top 40 chart-storming piece of catchy sweetness. Were you, perhaps, expecting more from a lady who first gained some attention with the film
Coyote Ugly
? Perhaps not. ~ Kelly McCartney